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The Phoenician's complex mercantile network supported what Fernand Braudel calls an early example of a "world-economy", described as "an economically autonomous section of the planet able to provide for most of its own needs" due to links and exchanges provided by the Phoenicians. [33]
The recovery of the Mediterranean economy can be credited to Phoenician mariners and merchants, who re-established long-distance trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia in the 10th century BC. [ 52 ] Early in the Iron Age , the Phoenicians established ports, warehouses, markets, and settlements all across the Mediterranean and up to the southern ...
The Phoenicians originated in the Northern Levant sometime circa 1800 BC [1] and emigrated to North Africa around 900 BC. [2] The causes of Phoenician emigration to North Africa as far as the Atlantic coast are debated, but could include overpopulation in the Levant and economic opportunities and precious metals in North Africa.
The Ship Sarcophagus: a Phoenician ship carved on a sarcophagus, 2nd century AD.. The theory of Phoenician discovery of the Americas suggests that the earliest Old World contact with the Americas was not with Columbus or Norse settlers, but with the Phoenicians (or, alternatively, other Semitic peoples) in the first millennium BC.
From Spain and Morocco, the Phoenicians controlled access to the Atlantic Ocean and the trade routes to Britain and Senegal. The most famous and successful of Phoenician colonies was founded by settlers from Tyre in 814–813 BC and called Kart-Hadasht (Qart-ḥadašt, [13] literally "New Town" [14]), known in English as Carthage.
The Phoenician colonial system was motivated by economic opportunity, not expansionist ideology, and as such, the Phoenicians lacked the numbers or even the desire to establish an "empire" overseas. The colonies were therefore independent city-states, though most were relatively small, probably having a population of less than 1,000.
Phoenician expertise also encompassed shipbuilding and navigation, and they were renowned for their extensive international trade network. The Bible documents the connections between the Phoenicians and the Israelite kings, highlighting their notable contributions in cedarwood and craftsmanship for Solomon's Temple. [10]
Phoenicia became one of the intellectual and economic hubs of the eastern half of the empire and a destination for merchants and intellectuals. The Romans built the temples of Baalbek, the temples at Mount Hermon , the temples of Niha and various other structures now in ruins that include smaller temples, hippodromes , baths and the Law school ...